A year later, Knicks still trying to reach Celtics’ level

So much for finally breaking through last year. So much for basically putting the Celtics on the brink even before Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles in Game 4 of the second round, for beating Boston in their first playoff matchup since 2013, for — despite their inability to beat the Celtics consistently during the regular season — signaling the potential for a changing of the guard atop the Eastern Conference. Maybe Boston was still Boston, but the Knicks could do more than just hang.

But so much can change in a year. Tatum is already back from an injury that typically sidelines athletes for a year. He returned in just 298 days. The Celtics have leapfrogged the Knicks in the conference standings and will likely end up as the No. 2 seed, too. And the Knicks have been plagued by rocky stretches and an inability to defeat teams above .500. The decision to fire Tom Thibodeau and hire Mike Brown has paid off at times, but key pieces such as Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges have still been inconsistent — and sometimes invisible.

The Knicks convincingly winning their Eastern Conference semifinals series last year was supposed to vault them to a new tier. But instead, they almost need to beat the Celtics again to establish themselves as a true contender and silence any critics suggesting otherwise. Because until then, the optics suggest that the Knicks are still chasing the Celtics.

Entering the season, this had been pegged as a rebuilding year for Boston. Sure, they still had Jaylen Brown. Sure, they still had Derrick White. But, with an increasingly onerous payroll, they sent Kristaps Porziņģis to the Hawks and shipped Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers. The Celtics, like the Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton, were supposed to be outside the tier of contenders. That was supposed to open the door for the Knicks. If there was any year where they’d have a clear path to at least reach the NBA Finals, this was going to be that year.